Therapist Gary Santorella Photo

Gary Santorella, LCSW

Stress, Anxiety Grief Career difficulties Coping with life changes Coaching
Video Phone Messaging

About me

My training is in brief cognitive-behavioral therapy. This means that we will deal in the here and now. When we discuss family history, it will be in the context of understanding how over-learned behaviors are influencing you current situation, then develop new ways (behaviors and thinking) to deal with the challenges you are facing. I work best with clients who have a specific goals that they are trying to achieve. That doesn't mean that we can't spend some time figuring this out. But once we do, we will come up with a jointly derived game plan and measures to determine if we've gotten there. Besides being a therapist, I'm a Lean implementation specialist, have been an executive coach for 25 years, and have extensive experience helping people improve their leadership/people skills and working through difficult workplace issues. Many years ago, I was a hospital social worker in San Francisco during the AIDS epidemic - so I have a strong background helping clients cope with severe illnesses and the difficult decisions they face - both for themselves and their loved ones. I have also treated victims of trauma and have a great deal of experience working with PTSD. I co-authored a paper titled: Occupational Exposure of Healthcare Workers to HIV: Stress Reactions and Counseling Interventions which appeared in the journal Social Work in Healthcare. I have also authored a professional book titled Lean Culture for the Construction Industry: Building Committed and Responsible Teams published by Taylor & Francis.

Professional experience

27yrs in practice
Stress, Anxiety Grief Career difficulties Coping with life changes Coaching

Additional areas of focus: LGBT, Relationship issues, Family conflicts, Trauma and abuse, Self esteem, Depression, Compassion fatigue, Cancer, Commitment Issues, Communication problems, Coping with Natural or Human-Caused Disaster, Divorce and separation, First Responder Issues, Guilt and shame, HIV / AIDS, Life purpose, Midlife crisis, Post-traumatic stress, Workplace issues

Clinical approaches: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Motivational Interviewing, Solution-Focused Therapy

Services offered

Video
Phone
Messaging

License information

CA LCSW 17326

AZ LCSW LCSW-18958

Reviews

These quotes represent just a few of the many positive reviews that we have received for Gary Santorella. We don't pay anyone to provide their review and they are all made voluntarily. Some people's experience receiving therapy with BetterHelp might be different.

Gary is great at his job, a very genuine person and extremely intelligent. He has provided many tools and strategies to help navigate family relationships, cope with PTSD triggers and enjoy life despite anxiety and depression. He has taught me to interrogate my thoughts and to be kind to myself. I would highly recommend his therapy services.

Written on Dec 31, 2021 after therapy with Gary for 3 weeks on issues concerning stress, anxiety, and grief

Gary is caring, kind, and always has great ideas to help any situation that may come my way. I look forward to our sessions and I appreciate his support! Thank you, Gary!

Written on Dec 19, 2021 after therapy with Gary for 11 months on issues concerning stress, anxiety, grief, self esteem, coping with life changes, and coaching

Gary is a wonderful therapist . He is empathetic and insightful and I feel lucky to have his expertise to guide me on issues in my life.

Written on Dec 13, 2021 after therapy with Gary for 7 months on issues concerning stress, anxiety, and coping with life changes

Thank you for all of the support that you have provided this last year, Gary. Your guidance has navigated me into much calmer waters of life.

Written on Dec 01, 2021 after therapy with Gary for 1 year on issues concerning depression, stress, anxiety, relationship issues, grief, and coping with life changes

An insightful gentleman who cares for the mental health of his patients.

Written on Nov 16, 2021 after therapy with Gary for 11 months on issues concerning relationship issues, intimacy-related issues, and coaching

Gary is a god sent

Written on Nov 15, 2021 after therapy with Gary for 11 months on issues concerning depression, stress, anxiety, addictions, trauma and abuse, grief, intimacy-related issues, self esteem, anger management, bipolar disorder, coping with life changes, compassion fatigue, and adhd